tuesday night, i had the opportunity to go see "the i-heart film: we're all in this together." it was a 2-hour documentary shot and produced by hillsong united showing their travels around the world during a 3 year span and the reality of our world they witnessed. there were some pretty startling things in the film and overall it made the world seem so much smaller.
the one quote that was made in the film that stuck out to me was, "if what we do inside these four walls doesn't impact the streets we travelled to get here, maybe we're missing the point."
maybe???
that statement got me to thinking about the local church in america. if what we do inside the four walls of our churches on sunday mornings doesn't make a difference in the streets we travelled to get there, we ARE missing the point. it also stirred a question in my head: if my church (or any church) closed their doors for good, would their community miss them?
on so many levels, the global church (especially the american church) is starting to rise up and face the injustice in our society. fighting aids in africa...fighting poverty in india...fighting injustice in china...fighting hunger in honduras...serving the poor in other states within our own country. but what about the people we pass everyday in our own communities? in new tampa, what about the less fortunate who have to sell newspapers on street corners on a sunday simply to get enough money to buy food for their family for the week?
i've spoken with several people and read several articles recently about churches and their weekend attendance at services. just yesterday, i was reading an article in outreach magazine that listed the 100 largest and fastest growing churches in america...seriously??? it stirred another question in my head: WHO CARES?!? when will there be an article in a magazine that talks about the top churches who are living out acts 1:8? when will we, as church leaders, stop talking about how many people attend our weekend services and instead start talking about the number of people "outside" that we expressed true humanitarian love to this past week...Jesus-love? imagine the following conversation about the church you attend:
the other person: what church do you go to?
you: I go to the xyz church.
the other person: oh wow...isn't that the church that serves the community like no other?
(or something along those lines)
instead, most conversations go like this:
the other person: what church do you go to?
you: i go to the xyz church.
the other person: i've heard about that church. they have great music...or great preaching...or my kids really love it there...
or even worse...
the other person: i've never heard of that church...or, oh, I've heard of that church (said in a repulsive way)
too many times, i'm a part of the second conversation. i'm somewhat fortunate that i go to a church that mainly hears the first response of the second conversation and i haven't heard anyone say, "oh, you go to that church." but, what if, when talking to one of the 60+% of the people who don't go to church we started being more of a part of the first conversation? what if, when pastors and church leaders meet for coffee they talk more about what their church is doing off campus monday through saturday rather than just focusing on what happens on campus any given sunday? is it even possible???
but i think if we truly start embracing the statement i opened with, we will see the a shift...however slow it might happen.
"if what we do inside these four walls doesn't impact the streets we travelled to get here, maybe we're missing the point."
i'll close with another quote that was in the movie that struck me when it comes to injustice around the world. maybe i'll unpack it in another posting...maybe not...but, here it is:
"you may choose to look the other way but you can never say again that you did not know." - william wilberforce
sobonana...
